Monday, August 29, 2016

AN EVENING OF POETRY RECITAL

Almost a month ago, I was admitted
to Kulim Hospital because of complications of my left lung. Unbeknown to me and
perhaps my friends in Kuala Lumpur wanted to present a fiat accomplice to me, they
arranged an evening of poetry recital for me. Due to pressure of my
friends, I appealed to my doctors to allow me two days off. They relented after
extracting from me a promise to return to the hospital.

My son spirited me in his powerful
car to the promised avenue to reach sharp at 2.30 on that Sunday 7th
August. There were present about 60 people, including some friends, in the
small hall. Without much ado, the Chairman introduced me, and then after a
gentleman sitting on my right spoke his stuff, he passed the microphone to me
to start reciting my poem “Sidang Ruh” (= Human Souls in Session).

I called for music.There was none.
So, deliberately, slowly, in a sombre voice, I recited:- [1]

I

perlu
satu-satu diperhitungkan kembali

hari
ini kita dewasa

tanpa
tuhan tanpa impian

kerana
besok mungkin terlalu lewat

bagi
kiamat yang telah ditangguhkan.

bukan
aku sinis

jangan
kau mengateis

beritaku
dari mereka yang lupa bagaimana untuk hidup

maka
demikian perlu kata-kata

supaya
maut kita jangan kerana bisu.

kalau
kau percaya kepada manusia sejahtera

jangan
kau bergembira menurut hukum

(kerana
kemenangan)

kalau
kau percaya kepada manusia bebas

jangan
kau berkata menurut hukum

(kerana
taat-setia)

kerana
tidak ada hukum yang akan berlaku

(namun
digubal dalam pi bi bi)

yang
tidak berperlembagaan di hati.

II

sudah
datang berita yang paling kejam

bagi
mereka yang lagi hidup kerana bisa berharap

dunia
ini penjara

nasi
kita akan cukup di syurga.

di
atas belakang Dajjal

telah
diperdagangkan hidup

gelak
dan hilai bukan kerana bahagia

gelak
dan hilai kerana papa.

akan
bersidang segala roh

anakmu
hari ini makan apa

nasi
atau beer

ketawanya
palsu tangisnya tanpa suara.

III

nanti
akan padamlah dengan sendirinya

lampu
dari menara tinggi

kerana
di bawahnya orang kian mabuk

dan
Tuhan sudah mati.

END

I heard my voice booming across the
room. The audience applauded me when I finished the recital. I asked them if
they wanted me to explain it stanza by stanza. They replied, “Yes.” So I did.
Again they applauded me. I stood up to acknowledge their applause.

Then
came questions and answers. One asked me a question I did not expect -- what I
thought of religious scholars. For some reason, I shot out a cryptic answer,
“Cari makan,” meaning they were merely
earning a livelihood. To my surprise, none asked me to explain what I meant.
Back at home, I thought I should have been fairer. Then I would have to tell
them that most of them were as ignorant as the next man! And I would enumerate
their errors: the second syahadah annulled
in the Quran (63: 1), on the so-called Hudud
punishments, the once-a-year practice of the pilgrimage to Mecca, cramming two
million people into the small place, causing over-crowing and at times many
deaths, when the Quran stipulates that the hajj can be performed in anyone of
the four sacred months. Not only that. Only those who are healthy and
financially able should perform the
hajj, once in a life-time. The rural folk especially would rake their life-time
savings to do the hajj. A woman’s hair is not her ‘aurat or nakedness that
needs to be covered. Their religious scholars – where are they? Why do they not tell them the truth from the
Quran?

At
the end, many came forward to ask me to autograph my books in their possession
and to take photographs with me..

About Me

(About Kassim Ahmad
By: M. Bakri Musa)
Kassim Ahmad is Malaysia's foremost thinker and philosopher. He grabbed national headlines in the 1950s with his dissertation on the characters of Hang Tuah (Perwatakan Hang Tuah), the Malay literary classic. In it he challenged the traditional interpretation and made the hitherto hero Hang Tuah as nothing more than a palace hack, and elevated the anti-hero Hang Jebat as the true hero, willing to kill even the sultan in defence of honor and principles.
Kassim was jailed for nearly five years under the ISA for daring to express openly his political views, an experience which he recounted in his book, Universiti Kedua (Second University).
Kassim again shook the Malay world with his "Hadith: A Re-Examination" in which he challenges the infallibility of the purported words of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.
Except for an honorary doctorate in Letters conferred by the National University of Malaysia, the country has not seen fit to honor this great public intellectual.
June 2005